Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Fitness Update

The biggest lesson I've learned in the three months that I've been working out regularly (4-6 days/week) is that it's not about the number on the scale. Okay, so I probably shouldn't say it's a lesson that I've learned....it's a lesson I'm TRYING to learn. I've lost about five pounds, but the past few weeks I have kind of been at a standstill with my weight, which is frustrating. I'm okay with my current weight, but then I think about what I weighed when I got married.....I'd like to get closer to that number (see, I said I want to get CLOSER, not reach it. I'm being realistic....there isn't any way that I'm going to get back to my weight as a 23 year old, right?). I wish that I would have taken measurements prior to beginning the regimen because then I wouldn't be so focused on the number on my scale, which I'm still loving, the scale, not necessarily the number (buy it HERE or HERE). When I look in the mirror I can definitely see a difference in my body, in a good way. My stomach and my upper thighs are my biggest concerns, and I have noticed a big difference in the way they look. This is where taking measurements would have come in handy - the number on the scale may not be changing as dramatically as I'd like, but if I'd taken measurements I'd have confirmation that a change was happening (because, you know, looking in the mirror isn't good enough).

Anyhow...with Michael traveling, soccer practices, etc it's been hard to stick to the meal plan I created, at least when it comes to dinners, so while I was still trying to make smarter choices when it came to what I ate, I wasn't necessarily paying attention to my daily calorie count. A few weeks ago I started using the Lose It app. I had originally planned on joining Weight Watchers, but it's $20 a month and Lose It is free (unless you select their premium plan, but even then it's only $39.99 for an entire year), so I decided to stick with Lose It. It's really easy to use - you simply create a profile with your current weight and your goal weight (and how quickly you want to reach your goal) and it tells you how many calories you can eat each day. Once you've created your profile you log your meals, snacks, and any exercise by scanning the item, searching by product, or manually entering the product information. You can even create recipes to calculate the complete calorie count on different foods (eg Linguine in Clam Sauce - 361 calories per serving, Dilly Dip - 96 calories per serving, Dump Cake - 201 calories per serving). When you log exercise, it subtracts the calories burned from your daily total. I still try to stay at or below my daily calories without deducting the exercise, but it's nice to have a buffer.

While the elliptical is good for cardio, I decided to add in some additional exercises. I've started doing the 30 Day Butt Lift Challenge as well as the 30 Day Plank Fat Burning Challenge, and have also started including crunches and weights into my daily workouts. I'm hoping that by adding in these exercises I'll begin to see a bigger difference.

We are going to Hawaii in June for our 15th anniversary, so that was my motivation to start working out, but I've gotten to the point where I feel guilty when I don't work out (even though I still don't enjoy it, like AT ALL), so hopefully I'll keep it up. What are you doing to get fit and stay healthy?

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